


Walking Wounded

by twitch



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Bickering, Canon Typical Violence, Force Use, Let's Start Small, M/M, Maybe They Care a Little Bit, Not That They Would Admit To It, Post-Canon, Tentative Work Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-05 22:50:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12198969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twitch/pseuds/twitch
Summary: Kylo was defeated on Starkiller and left unconscious in the snow. If it hadn't been for Hux he may have died there. As it was he was treated on the Finalizer, released from medbay. Hux told him Snoke expected him to finish his training at the Citadel.Battles are fought. Scars line the bodies of the men and women who survive. Bacta is in short demand. It mattered little to Kylo, he was a priority.Those further down the list were left to wait.





	Walking Wounded

**Author's Note:**

> My reading list of Star Wars books is a long one but I’m slowly ploughing my way through them. On my to read list is Life Debt: Aftermath and Life Debt: Empire’s End. I do know that Brendol and Armitage Hux were able to escape from Arkanis during the siege. I’m acknowledging that truth and fudging on what their condition was once they arrived on the ship. Injuries could've easily happened. After all, this was a siege. Battles are bloody.

The planet of Starkiller was a curious thing. Ensconced in layers of snow and ice it was assumed that it was nothing short of death by hypothermia. The blustery snowsqualls that beat against the terrain and thick walls of the Base suggested as much. No one was allowed outside of the Base past sundown or before sunrise not only as a safety precaution to not get lost but also due to how the temperature plummeted even further. 

Yet he could say he endured worse. Arkanis was a wet planet. No where comparable to Starkiller, which lacked any bodies of water aside from below-ground water sources that the Base monitored and controlled tightly for allocated use. The rivers and the coastlines of Arkanis were a fond memory but always brought around the shiver that dug deep into his bones. Had he been more informed about meteorology, aside from what benefits cloud-cover would allow troops to invade on unsuspecting enemies and other ways the weather could effect military tactics, he would’ve learned the difference between a dry cold region and a damp cold region. Even a temperate day on Arkanis carried enough moisture in the air that his arms would prickle with gooseflesh, forcing him to reach for the nearest jacket. No matter how many layers he wore he would still feel the chill all the way down to his fingertips.

Starkiller, for all its windchill and snowdrifts, did allow for warmth beyond the walls of the Base. The right cut of jacket or under-armour attire in the correct fabric kept the warmth securely where it was meant to be, in the body. The wonder of a dry cold. So long as exposed skin was covered by the First Order approved and requisitioned fabrics that made the scarves, hats and gloves for all personnel on Starkiller Base, one should be comfortably warm.

He never had the time.

His fingers were frozen in the uniform gloves that he wore strictly within the Base.

Ears were the same harsh red of his neck and face, wind whipping at his exposed skin. His lips were blue and chapped, escaping their tightly pursed shape as he ran, letting the voice in his earpiece direct him to the tracker in Ren’s belt.

He nearly fell into a snowdrift that fought the destruction within, giving up mere seconds after he forged his way through it, snow clinging to his knees.

The chill was everywhere, dripping from him in sweat and indignity. There was no fear, remarkably, just fury that the planet was collapsing under his feet. He should’ve been running for the shuttles as he commanded the rest of the crew to do. Yet here he was, running to locate his co-commander.

He faltered in his steps again, swaying with another fissure that was raging its way up through the layers of rock underneath snow and ice. 

Heat raged through him, a mirror of the fiery destruction, dripping and claiming him.

Except in the copse of his trees he was directed to, close enough to see but still a far enough distance that had him groaning, a familiar figure lay motionless. 

“My location, now! Get the shuttle in position!” 

Forcing more speed into his legs, even as muscles protested the strain, he bolted towards Ren. The ground where he had stood pierced into a rift, the destructive chasm pursuing him. He barely had time to grab hold of Ren when he threw himself bodily to the side, arms tight around Ren to roll him away from the flames that brought warmth to his back briefly, shielding Ren from the fire.

The wound dissecting his face, he was too late to save Ren from that.

Fully soaked by snow, and shuddering anew for the snow that spilled down his collar past his neck, Hux struggled to his feet, strained to hoist Ren up. He wouldn’t have made it far on his own, slowed down by the unconscious weight that he attempted to carry. Trees were buckling behind him, his body frozen and in pain. There was a clearing ahead where the shuttle was lowering. Hovering for escape, not making a proper landing, the gangplank was extended with two Stormtroopers poised at the edge, retractable cables fastened to the backs of their armour, ready to jump when they were close enough to land without injury. Making a last-ditch effort Hux hurried his steps, jogging towards the shuttle. 

The Stormtroopers grabbed Ren, a hand each grabbing him from under the armpit, pulling him up onto the durasteel. 

Hux lunged, throwing himself up with more desperation and determination than he conveyed during his speech.

Clinging to the side-edge of the gangplank, his whole upper body jarred by landing awkwardly – but safely, away from the planet sinking in on itself, Hux shakily got to his feet. He was pulled the rest of the way into the rising shuttle by the remaining Stormtrooper, cable helping to steady their path inside, the other stumbling through the entry under Ren’s weight.

Inside, shivering at Ren’s side, having been secured in a cot that made the Finalizer’s medbay cots look like luxury hotel’s beds, Hux looked over his injuries. Pulling the first-aid kit closer Hux did what he could to stanch the blood loss until the doctors could see to Ren. 

*

He could feel the repressed screams of others before the rest of his senses kicked in. Their jumbled thoughts and sensations, throbbing agony in limbs re-set and wounds stabilized.

Bacta was considered one of the essentials of medical treatment but despite it’s many benefits it still had a distinct smell, unpleasant even from where he rested in a room secluded from the rest of the patients.

“General Hux, you asked to receive word when Lord Ren woke – yes, he’s coming to now.”

Kylo opened his eyes, one eye crusted from too long a sleep, no doubt medically induced. He managed to open it halfway but his other eye struggled, barely managing to see more than a hint of the room, where the ceiling met the wall.

He wasn’t lying down. In the few times he’d been unable to avoid medical attention he was instructed to lie flat on his back. 

A throbbing pain accompanied the increasing clarity of mind, focussing in his shoulder and his ribs. Why was that?

He could remember a roar, except now he wasn’t sure if he was remembering the sound of the x-fighters doing their bomb runs on the planet, the destruction of the planet underneath and around him, or maybe it was-

It all snapped into place.

The tension in his body singed, tautening the wounds, extending to rattle the recently cleaned equipment that had tended to him. 

It would’ve escalated further but a sharp pain plunged into his uninjured shoulder. He did manage to lash out with his good arm, rocking the table and tray to the ground, an extra flourish of Force cracking the cabinet across the room open and off the wall, vials and medications shattering on impact with the floor.

Whatever he was dosed with kicked in quickly, arm and head sagging heavily on the cot. A hoverchair, used specifically for patients, came directly into the room, another medic moving it towards him. 

“The Bacta tank is ready.”

“General Hux wished Lord Ren to be conscious for submersion but his priority was to make sure he wouldn’t be a danger to himself or others. Inform the General that I had to sedate him.”

“I’ll let him know after we have Lord Ren in the tank.”

Kylo had choice words on the matter, both matters really, but before he could voice them, he realised his eyes were rolling. 

It wasn’t a display of sarcasm. Unconsciousness was claiming him again.

*

The assessment that followed his bacta tank treatment was thankfully short and in his favour. He didn’t know how long he spent in the tank but he didn’t have to stay in the medbay any longer. He passed their health checks and was released to resume his duties. As relieved as he was to leave additional news waited for him outside.

General Hux turned as soon as the doors opened, eyes alert but set by fine lines of sleepless nights. Before Kylo could mock Hux spoke. “Are you able to see?”

His mask having been lost on Starkiller his expression should’ve been readable but he managed to keep his face tight, a hint of a sneer pulling at his lips. “Perfectly as always General.”

One shoulder lifted in a shrug before resuming the rigid position that Hux constantly bore. “I would make comment on the two untrained children who bested you-” There was a pointed pause, a smug air that Kylo was ready to counter with a barb of his own, but Hux wetted his lips, side-eying him briefly. “But it seems that your training is vital to the situation at hand. We are en route to the Citadel. The Supreme Leader wishes for you to complete your training. He does require a word with you before we arrive though.”

“Alone?” Kylo inquired, pushing his lip out in a smirk when Hux nodded curtly. “Then you’ve already suffered through your dressing down alone.”

“He requested reports on the number of fatalities on Starkiller Base.” Hux’s voice took on a sharper edge. “The numbers could’ve easily been lower had we been able to account for your report instead of Phasma’s. Did you know reception is significantly diminished from within a trash compactor? Had we known that FN-2187 had two friends accompanying him we would’ve had a better chance to get the shields re-established before backup dropped in.”

“I was following the Supreme Leader’s instructions.” Whether Hux knew just who the ex-Stormtrooper’s friends were Kylo didn’t focus on that. He ignored the pulse of pain in his stomach, labeled it as a need for food. The last time he ate was of no importance. “It’s your pilots’ fault for not being adequately trained to take down x-fighters.”

“Was it their fault for not bringing the girl to the Supreme Leader?” 

Pain and guilt flared to anger, a surge that had him twisting to step in front of Hux, cutting them to a standstill. “Perhaps if you learned to fight instead of relying on your pilots and stormtroopers and not hide behind the helm of the Bridge you’d learn not to blame your failures on other people.”

“I am not some pampered Knight who was graced with the mantle of Master by the whim of so-called prestige and Force powers.” An attempt to stand straighter didn’t bring Hux to his level, Kylo staring back at him impassively. He trickled his fingers forward, ready to let Hux feel the powers that he belittled but Hux swatted his hand away, finger jabbing his chest. “I fought my way to General, I command the Finalizer-“

“Co-command.” Kylo started to push his hand away but thought better, grabbed hold of it, squeezing hard when Hux tried to jerk out of his grip. “I have more sway over the men and women on this ship, I lead them into battle while you stay up in space, cowering behind the canons. The only blood on your hands will happen when I break-“ He squeezed hard enough that Hux’s fingers flinched in his. “Your.” Another clench followed with a deliberate twist of the Force. “Hand.”

He felt the pop, not tension ebbing but bones snapping out of place. 

“You know nothing of war.” Hux’s face was taut like always but points of pink blossomed over his face, sinking into a sharper pallor. “You sauntered into our fight when the Supreme Leader deigned to bring you into the ranks of the First Order. The Knights of Ren had a master before you assumed the title by His decree. The First Order has been fighting before you and will continue to fight after you strut away to finish your training. We have more important things to do than kriff around with Force exercises.”

He held onto Hux’s hand several seconds longer, only letting go after he twisted away, wrenching Hux’s wrist with a snap that he felt and heard. “The Supreme Leader would be interested in finding out your opinions on that matter,” he called, letting Hux stew in the threat while he stalked away.

*

The meeting with Snoke was not a dressing down. Rather than taking only the word of the reports that the medical staff gave Hux Snoke wished to see and hear from himself personally that he was ready to resume and finish his training. After the altercation in the corridor he’d been ready to fly his Silencer immediately to the Citadel but Snoke insisted he take the next few days to rest and meditate in preparation of arrival.

Yet he could only tolerate so much time in his quarters. Wishing to ensure his point was clear and unforgotten he visited the Bridge. When the doors closed behind him several officers looked up, most likely to confirm the rumours that he had lost his mask. He expected the fidgety Lieutenant to be amongst the number but he was holding a datapad that Hux was providing an electronic signature on, his left hand doing the scrawl. 

Cocking his head slightly Kylo let his gaze drop to Hux’s right hand, hanging awkwardly at his side. Rather than wearing his glove a different fabric, albeit still black, was wrapped around his hand, splints bracing two of his fingers. It was a decent effort to treat the injury but clearly one that wasn’t done by a professional. 

Moving silently towards them Kylo purposely stood to Hux’s right, standing closer than necessary. It took a conscientious effort from Hux to not move away from him though he held his arm closer to his body, protectively. “I would’ve thought you’d visit the medbay,” Kylo remarked.

Lieutenant Mitaka’s gaze lifted from the datapad when he handed it back to Hux, eyes darting to him before Hux nodded, Mitaka slipping away to his station. “Why would I need to do that?” Hux asked, low enough not to be heard by his officers.

Seeing no point to beat around the bush he stated facts. “Your right hand is swollen.”

“And who’s fault is that?” Nose twitching in a restrained sniff he made his way to his office. “There’s only so much that can be done with a broken hand. If we had more bacta on hand to tend to minor injuries I would’ve gone to medbay. As it is injuries have been treated on a case to case basis, the most severe first. When we’re supplied with more bacta I will have my hand treated but in the meantime all I can do is have it wrapped and rest it as much as possible.”

It had only been one day cycle since their altercation but Hux looked even more haggard, features drawn. Had he been the type to be concerned he would’ve told Hux to continue his work from his office but that would never happen. He had no desire to worry himself over Hux and he knew Hux felt the same way towards him. 

“There’s no need to be resting on laurels General, you have too much to make up for,” Kylo commented, suppressing a smirk when Hux huffed irritably.

“I am very aware of that Ren.” Switching the datapad from hand to tuck it tightly between arm and waist Hux narrowed his eyes on him. Taking Hux’s brisk steps to his office as invitation to leave Kylo turned to leave the Bridge, mulling on what needed to be done before his arrival at Snoke’s. 

Yet there were very few things that he would need to take the Citadel that didn’t include the clothes on his back. His lightsaber was normally on his person. His mask had been left behind on Starkiller and considering the fate of the planet it was irretrievable. His cloak was finally dried after his nap in the snow but he had to make do with the older, slightly snug, tunic that he kept as an extra. Medbay decided the damage taken to his shoulder and stomach had ripped up his usual tunic beyond any patch up job and disposed of it

The following morning he collected the few extra items he would need from his quarters. Into his rucksack he placed training weights, hair ties and a small scarf that Snoke gave him when he first trained under his tutelage. At the time he tied it around his eyes, for exercises that required him blind and opening his others senses up to the Force around him. Now he carried it around with fondness.

It joined the other items. He left the rucksack on his bed to survey the room, making sure he wasn’t missing anything. Stepping out into his living quarters for a final sweep – he supposed he could take his datapad with him, should he needed to be alerted to further action taken by the Finalizer – he found nothing essential. Perhaps he’d remember something over breakfast in the mess hall.

Despite what he said to Snoke, that he was ready to travel on his own to the Citadel, the Supreme Leader was on the mark that he needed more rest. Snoke was always rigorous in his training, mentally and physically, and even with meditation and light training in the private gym he tired faster than he liked to admit. He wasn’t Hux, he wasn’t about to reach for a caf or the stimulants he thrived on. He found a cold nutrient-rich water and did a couple of breathing exercises between key stretches. Even though a soreness persisted in his body his mind felt more alert. 

Forcing himself to keep busy for the rest of the cycle he still went to bed early. With one day left until arrival he wanted to be in right state of mind and body for Snoke. Once his head settled onto his pillow it was only a matter of minutes before he was asleep.

Expecting to wake up to his alarm he was startled to realise the noise rousing him was coming from his comm.

Several attempts later his fingers found the right button to activate it. His grunt was acknowledgement enough that Lieutenant Mitaka spoke hastily. “Lord Ren, you are required on the Bridge immediately.”

“That is a job for the General,” he grumbled, heavy fingers ready to depress and turn off his comm.

Mitaka cut him off before he could. “He’s incapacitated. He’s being held in the medbay and won’t be released until we get bacta onto the Finalizer. Doctor’s demands.” The groggy part of his brain perked up only a little, pulling a frown then a yawn to his lips. “Supreme Leader Snoke has commed us to alert that you are to disembark from the Finalizer, since we have arrived, but specifically wants to talk to General Hux but the doctors insist that he’s not to be placed on work duty until he gets treatment. And the Finalizer needs at least one functional commander to operate her.”

“He broke his wrist!” Technically he broke Hux’s wrist for him, not that everyone needed to know the details. Everyone knew about their arguments but knowing just how violent they could get wasn’t shared publicly. Chances were Hux didn’t even tell the doctors how he injured himself. “He’s been working two days with a broken wrist, that is no reason to lock him up in medbay.”

Lieutenant Mitaka was smart, Hux wouldn’t have trusted him if he wasn’t. However the relationship between the Lieutenant and himself was built around intimidation. Having a Force chokehold did that to an officer. Mitaka knew the less he said to him, the better off he was. Yet he could hear the reluctant inhale from the other end before Mitaka pressed him further. “They have locked him up.” 

Pushing his blankets back, agitatedly gesturing for his clothes to float his way, Kylo jabbed the volume louder on his comm. “I’m going to the medbay to see what the problem is. I’ll let the Supreme Leader know about the delay.”

Pushing the medbay doors open with the Force, sliding open several seconds before he crossed the threshold, the voice of one of the nurses rose then faded when he realised who was intruding in their workspace. Predictably most of the medical staff scurried out of his way, only one shouting that the General was in the last private room to the right. 

With another motion of his hand the door of the private room opened. The doctor inside must’ve seen the movement and didn’t protest the intrusion, knowing who was entering.

That silence, and the unmoving figure on the cot, gave Kylo pause. That Hux was positioned awkwardly on his side, arm and leg positioned to keep him steady, appeared strange. 

The raised marks crisscrossing his back, catching the bright lights from overhead to lightly shine, had him mentally staggering. 

The doctor turned to face Kylo, the machine behind her whirring to life. Familiar with the set up of the room he knew the machine was for cleaning and sterilizing the used medical equipment. Equipment that would’ve been responsible for the stitches that stood out starkly on Hux’s shoulder. The black lines were remarkably small and neat, delicate handwork required, but there were so many to knit the skin back together, forming a large mostly circular shape, despite the jagged angles that it consisted.

Calm eyes watched him for several seconds before she settled back, not ready to run like the rest of the staff. “I have General Hux heavily medicated. I finished sewing him up about three minutes ago so the worse should be over. However the blood loss he’s suffered over the past few days due to his abysmal self-care and his concussion requires him to be under constant supervision. Bacta treatment would have him released sooner but until we have our supplies replenished our hands are tied.”

“Concussion?” Looking away from the stitches, bemusement clear on his features, Kylo tried to see if there were any wounds visible on Hux’s head. No parts of his hair had been shaved to allow for additional stitches so the injury was blunt force trauma rather than invasive. “What happened?”

“General Hux was on his way to the Bridge when a malfunctioning door caught him on the shoulder. The blow had him more disoriented than it should’ve but apparently the impact caused his injury to start bleeding profusely. He was brought down to here for medical treatment where the story begins.” She cocked her head slightly, waiting him to interject. When he didn’t she continued. “When the Supreme Leader instructed him to bring you to him to complete your training General Hux didn’t escape Starkiller’s holodeck unharmed. The base was already taking hits and the deck was crumbling apart. He was struck from rocks falling overhead. One hit him on the head but a sharper rock stabbed him through the shoulder. Had it been his other shoulder he likely wouldn’t have escaped the holodeck.”

The General, General Uptight Hux, ran to his rescue with critical injuries. How had he done it without passing out on the Shuttle? He’d been unconscious in their escape until he woke up in the medbay but it sounded like Hux had operated the Finalizer as he always did, efficiently regardless how tired he may be. That he was tired and bleeding out was stupidity more so than inspiring. “How much bacta does he require?” Kylo asked.

“Enough to operate a bacta tank,” she replied. She moved to the side, pulling gauze bandages out of a drawer she opened.

He’d have to get the Lieutenants to locate the closest Star Destroyers who had surplus portable bacta units they could donate to their ship until they docked into First Order trading ports. He could’ve commed them right now but didn’t want to interrupt the doctor. Staying on her good side might help to establish a negotiation. “At best that will take three days. I am required in the Citadel, Supreme Leader Snoke’s orders. I will elect a temporary Commanding Officer-”

“You can make it less than two days.” She crossed her arms lightly, gauze in one hand, but her expression was unmoved. “I’m sure the Supreme Leader can arrange something for us. In this time of near-defeat by the Resistance he would want his sharpest minded tactician back on his feet and planning the First Order’s next move, with enforced medical rehabilitation.”

Now he remembered why he wasn’t too fond of doctors. Especially this woman. Narrowing his eyes at her Kylo sucked on the inside of his lip, chewing it. “We’ve just arrived at the Citadel. I will disembark immediately to speak to the Supreme Leader on the matter. I’m sure we can find an alternate, faster resource, to obtaining the necessary bacta. It could be here by the end of the cycle.”

“It has to be.” She arched an eyebrow, not flinching from the glare he gave her. “Without General Hux on his feet and healthy you’ll be forced to remain on the Finalizer. Does the Supreme Leader want to delay your training another day?”

Rigid cot sheets shifted noisily when Hux stirred, feet trying to find traction, ready to push himself up and stand. “We’ve arrived?” Hux asked groggily, effected arm and hand too heavy to move.

“I’ll bandage his shoulder when you’re done talking with him.” Giving him one last look, this one warning him to not take long, she passed Kylo to exit the room.

Hux still tried to sit up. Normally he would’ve pushed him to stay put with a hand on his shoulder but Kylo put his hand on Hux’s hip, a sharp visible lump under the sheets. “She’d want you to stay lying until she’s here to make sure you’re steady enough to sit,” Kylo pointed out.

Sagging under his touch, unaccustomed to taking orders from both the doctor and Ren, Hux twisted his gaze up to look at him properly. “I may as well be under quarantine. She’s keeping me a hostage on my own ship until the bacta comes in.”

Never having seen the report of fatalities from Starkiller, or the numbers of critically wounded officers and stormtroopers, Kylo had to wonder just how much bacta they had on supply and how they managed to use it up so fast. That would be on his list of things to do, after speaking with Snoke. “Had we known that you were a priority you would’ve been treated as soon as you got on ship.” 

“Supreme Leader insisted you were a priority.” Hux shook his head slowly, tired more so than the condescension Kylo expected. “Besides, I was in no danger of dying or losing a limb. I was more concerned about my men and women, I wanted them healthy. My shoulder was managing quite fine while I was bandaging it.”

“Until your exhausted concussed self walked into a door.” Kylo smirked at Hux’s curled lip. “Why yes, you’re the picture of health. You’re lucky you didn’t further break your hand.”

Hux was insistent. “My hand is a minor injury.” 

“In comparison to your back, yes.” His glove was a ghoul against the white bed, ready to reach for the ghosts on Hux’s back. “It’s remarkable that you’re even here. Not your shoulder. The rest of your scars are extensive.”

His fingers dipped towards the closest line of pearlescent white, looping from back over waist to hip. Hux flinched away, landing on his back despite Kylo’s attempt to catch him. “Do not touch-”

Kylo tightened his jaw, curling his hands up underneath his crossed arms. “They look old.”

Pulling the sheet up over his chest, Hux mirrored the tension. Unsure of what approach he needed to keep his defences up he feigned indifference and gave a short answer. “They are.”

“From when you got beaten up at the Academy.” The statement came with little thought. Kylo had been around enough older First Order bureaucrats and older officers to know that the cadets were trained to be vicious and cunning, in and outside the classrooms. Wartime would not offer any pleasantries. To survive one had to do what was necessary.

Hux’s face tensed a fraction before his features relaxed again. “Don’t make assumptions.”

“Where else would you have gotten them?” Kylo snorted under his breath, a snort breaking their staring match. “Are they your so-called war wounds?”

All attempts at being indifferent failed, Hux sneering up at him. “You have permission to leave, call the doctor back in.”

Hux didn’t have coherency to remember that turning to avoid looking at him required moving to stare at the wall, his bad shoulder squashed underneath him. Hux shuddered, refusing to move until Kylo did it for him. The Force was gentler than his hand, easing Hux back onto his back before Kylo made sure he was steady on his good side again. 

Kylo brushed his fingers over the stitches, pleased to see they were still holding. They were red from the wear of needle and thread but not from the unplanned pressure. “You’re lucky, they held up.” Kylo brushed his fingers over a couple of the stitches, fine but raised enough to feel the difference between thread and skin. Without thinking his fingers drifted again, reaching one of the pale lines, precariously reaching towards Hux’s spine. “At least you don’t need to worry about people staring at your scars.”

“Because that makes it all better?” With his face pressed to his pillow the question was mostly mumbled. “Try getting these sewn on a shuttle that was designed for quick evacuation. I was lucky that someone brought a doctor onboard. Lucky that anyone considered me important to bring along.”

“I didn’t think sob stories were your style General,” Kylo commented while fingers continued to explore, grazing over another scar that ran between two of his back ribs. 

Hux shifted his head enough for his voice to be clearly. “I’m stating facts. After the dissolution of the Empire, the New Republic attacked Arkanis. Perhaps it was before your time, but I was there, I’ve seen war first hand. As an officer of the First Order and as a child. The New Republic destroyed heedlessly. Military buildings, apartments, public spaces, the Academy…” On anyone else the rough exhalation could’ve preceded tears but Hux looked up, eyes clear despite blinking to the ceiling then to him. “I was fortunate. I was bloody and broken, the scars prove it. I was in a popular restaurant when it was blown. I didn’t taste the smoke right away. The flying debris and bricks and wood knocked me out cold and did much of this to me. It was bad enough that an injured shoulder and broken wrist is minimal.”

Kylo shuffled his foot out slightly, toes pointed in. If it was an attempt to ease his weight rather than his conscience he didn’t think long on it. “You also took a concussion. This could’ve been more serious had you not been forced to come to the medbay. It’s a good thing I was still here.”

“I suppose so.” Hux didn’t look pleased to concede to the point but arched an eyebrow. “You’ll at least make sure enough bacta arrives to treat any remaining patients.”

“To fill one bacta tank and provide for… how many more people still need to be treated.” Kylo frowned, not sure what would be that number.

“Check with Lieutenant Mitaka, he has an updated copy of the list of patients still needed to be treated. It isn’t too long.” Closing his eyes briefly Hux laid his hand flat over his stomach, the bandages and splint newly done by either the doctor or a nurse. “Check in with the Supreme Leader soon. I’d like to not have to spend the night in here.”

“Maybe it would be best for you if you did.” Hux didn’t look pleased by the suggestion which almost had Kylo chuckling. Instead Kylo rushed to elaborate. “To get a proper rest. And to have the doctor do another check up in the morning.”

“But I need – we need bacta. Find out where we can get some fast,” Hux insisted, trying to get comfortable on his side.

Kylo stepped away from the bed but if Hux thought he was leaving he was disappointed yet again. Kylo rummaged in several cupboards before finding what he was looking for. It was a selection of towels, taking the largest and smallest one of the bunch. The smallest one he folded into a small rectangle, folding it enough that it was as thick as his pillow. He put it in front of Hux, around stomach height. Hux hesitated before moving his arm forward enough for his hand to rest comfortably but also supported. The other towel he folded twice and placed behind him, one edge to his back and the other to the wall, high enough that he shouldn’t roll onto his back. “That should help a little.”

Making a surprised sound Hux eased his head against his pillow. “Uh, good, thank you.”

“Will your head be okay?” Kylo started to reach for his hair but curled his fingers back at the last minute.

“I just feel…. Dazed. It might be a combination of the injury and the medication she gave me,” Hux reassured him, eyes drifting shut. He started though, remembering the doctor waiting outside. “She was going to do my shoulder.”

Kylo glanced to the door, knowing that the towel arrangement would be displaced in order to dress Hux’s shoulder properly. “I’ll try to persuade her to let you sleep instead. I imagine you haven’t slept in a couple of days.”

“Yeah,” Hux mumbled, already half asleep. “Even if she just lets me nap.”

“I’ll let her know.” 

As soon as his eyes were closed Kylo curved his hand over Hux’s head, not touching but searching for the source of the pain. He could feel the exhaustion but underneath it he could see the blues and purples, the impact of where frozen rock had struck Hux. 

Pressing down gently with two of his fingers he circled his fingers, imagining the circulation of blood, bruises breathing and healing from within, dark shades lightening and shrinking in size. The light sigh that escaped Hux’s lips had him recoiling silently but not hearing anything else had him smiling, neatening the hair that he had twisted up.

Quietly he slipped outside, nodding towards the doctor.

It shouldn’t take long to persuade Snoke.


End file.
